Jiufen Mingsheng Temple Audio Guide

Mingsheng Temple: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Jiufen Mingsheng Temple

   Welcome to Jiufen Mingsheng Temple, a place of worship in Jiufen, the hillside town in Ruifang District, in New Taipei City, northern Taiwan. Here, people come to honor Guan Yu, and a statue of him stands inside the temple. Before we begin, a word of honesty: the temple's own story is recorded only in outline. I will tell you what is well established about it, and let the town around it supply the rest of the setting. The temple was originally called the Quanzhong Hall, a name worth remembering because it hints that this place has changed and grown over time. You may also see it written in English as Shengming Temple, which is a different romanization of the same Jiufen name. In Chinese it is written with the characters for bright and sacred, and for palace. Over the next few minutes we will meet the god at its heart, walk through the gold rush story that shaped Jiufen, and see how a mining town that nearly vanished became one of Taiwan's most recognizable places. Think of the temple as your anchor and the town as the story that surrounds it.

2. 02

   Guan Yu: The General Who Became a God

   The figure worshipped here is Guan Yu, and if you have never met him before, you are in for a treat. He began as a historical general, and over the centuries he became one of the most widely honored figures in Chinese popular religion. In Taoist temples he is addressed with exalted titles, such as Guan Sheng Di Jun, which means roughly the sacred emperor lord Guan. Inside Jiufen Mingsheng Temple, his statue is the focus of worship. The temple's original name, the Quanzhong Hall, is also part of this story. The name suggests a hall devoted to urging people toward loyalty, a virtue closely tied to Guan Yu's reputation. Taiwanese temples often carry names like this, which tell you something about the ideals a community wanted to keep in front of it. There is a calendar date to remember too. Worshippers celebrate Guan Yu's anniversary on the thirteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, the day his spirit is said to have gone to heaven after his death. If your visit happens to fall near it, expect the temple to feel livelier than usual.

3. 03

   Gold Beneath the Hillside

   To understand why a temple stands in Jiufen at all, you have to understand gold. Jiufen is a historic former gold mining town, and many of the features you see today date from the era of Japanese colonization. Many Japanese inns from that time survive to this day. A mining town like this gathered people from far and wide, and people who work underground often look for a protector above ground. Here is a story that ties the temple to that mining heritage. In 1985, while a plaza in front of the temple was being excavated, workers are said to have turned up two rounded nuggets of gold, together weighing 46.9 taels. A tael is a traditional East Asian unit of weight. The discovery was reported in the news at the time, and it became a favorite tale of the town: a place of worship, in a town built on gold, quite literally sitting on some. Whether you take it as a coincidence or a blessing, the story captures the mood of Jiufen. Gold is the reason the town exists, and it keeps turning up in the way people talk about the place.

4. 04

   From Wartime Camp to Film Fame

   Jiufen has lived several lives. During the Second World War, a prisoner of war camp named Kinkaseki was set up in the village. It held Allied soldiers captured in Singapore, many of them British, who were put to work in the nearby gold mines. It is a sobering chapter, and it reminds us that the hill behind you carries memories far beyond its postcard charm. After the war, mining declined, and the mine was shut in 1971. Jiufen quickly went into decline, and for a while the town was mostly forgotten. Then came a film. In 1989, Hou Hsiao-hsien's A City of Sadness, the first film to touch on the February 28 incident, then a taboo subject in Taiwan, won acclaim around the world. It was set in Jiufen, and its nostalgic scenery drew visitors back to the town. Today the best-known attraction is Jiufen Old Street, a narrow, winding alleyway of shops, teahouses and restaurants. A temple that served a mining community now sits in a town of visitors, and you can feel both worlds if you slow down.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   As you wander the temple and the lanes around it, try a few small observations. Look for the statue of Guan Yu and think about what loyalty meant to a community of miners. Notice how the town's old Japanese-era buildings sit beside the temple's traditional Taiwanese character. And keep an ear open for the names people use for this place, because Quanzhong Hall is a reminder that a temple's name can change while its purpose carries on. There is plenty more to discover in these hills, and each lane seems to have its own gold-era story waiting to be noticed.